SMU looks to find some consistency when it hosts FCS up-and-comer Houston Christian on Saturday evening in Dallas.
The Mustangs (1-0) carry momentum into their second game after a 29-24 comeback win at Nevada in their season opener last Saturday.
SMU got 254 yards passing from Preston Stone, with 162 of those going to RJ Maryland. The tight end had eight receptions, including the game-winning touchdown.
Stone hit Maryland for a 34-yard TD pass with 1:18 left to cap the Mustangs’ 16-point fourth quarter, which they entered trailing 24-13.
LJ Johnson Jr. and Brashard Smith rushed for TDs of 1 and 4 yards, respectively, for SMU in its first game as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference.
The Mustangs overcame 125 yards on 11 penalties, with 10 of those flags coming over the first three quarters.
“First game of the season, they’re always crazy and weird,” SMU coach Rhett Lashlee said Tuesday.
” … Now that we’ve had summer, fall camp and an actual game in an adverse situation, we know how our team will respond. We just don’t need to put ourselves in those positions any more than we have to.”
Houston Christian travels to Dallas to kick off its 11th season since debuting in 2014.
The Huskies posted their first winning campaign in 2023, going 6-5 under head coach Braxton Harris before he left for the same job at Campbell University.
Jason Bachtel takes over at Houston Christian after previously serving as the team’s offensive coordinator.
The Huskies were picked in the Southland Conference preseason poll to finish seventh in the nine-team league.
Houston Baptist’s attack will be led by its running back trio of Jesse Valenzuela, Darrlye Evans and Champ Dozier, who combined to amass 1,272 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns in 2023. Dozier had the highest yards per game average, with 73.5 across four contests.
Bachtel says he wants the Huskies to push the pace in 2024.
“Offensively, we want to be a power-spread, power running team and vertical passing,” Bachtel said. “We want to try to snap it 85, 90 times a game. We want to play as fast as we possibly can, get after it and create a fun style of football with tough-minded and physical players on both sides of the ball.”
The teams have played just once, a 63-27 win by the Mustangs in Dallas in 2018.
